BOE Fails to Sort Bronx Dem Fight, Which Goes to Court

Now the court will have to sort out the mess of the Bronx Democratic Party leadership, since a Board of Elections ruling late yesterday afternoon left another question mark.

Commissioners listened to arguments from the Bronx Democratic Party's "Rainbow Rebels" to invalidate Assemblyman Jose Rivera's claim to the Bronx County chairmanship. Their final vote was 5-4 with one abstention. Six votes were needed for a ruling.

Bronx GOP Board of Elections Commissioner J.C. Polanco cast that non-vote. "I felt the proper thing to do at this point was to allow for the courts to make their determination on the issue," he said.

After the vote -- in which five commissioners from Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx sided with Rivera -- the five-year incumbent leader's camp sent out a press release claiming a win. "I look forward to serving the Bronx County Democratic Committee," Rivera said in the statement. "It was unfortunate that our Party endured the troubling events over the course of the last few weeks."